SWABI: The district irrigation department chopped down trees during an anti-encroachment drive along the Saleem Khan and Buner Canals in Palodand area a few days ago, earning the ire of the locals.

The people told Dawn that the uprooted trees were planted by them a few years ago, but irrigation department officials brutally mauled the trees.

“We looked after the uprooted trees like our own children but officials of the irrigation department destroyed them in moments,” deplored Hidayatullah, a local.

Another local Rehmanullah said on one side the government advocated for planting more trees but, on the other, its departments were chopping down grown up trees without any justification.

Locals said the irrigation department had caused complete annihilation of the trees.

Similarly, the staff of Wapda and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) have also brutally chopped down trees in different areas of Topi tehsil, apparently to secure the main transmission line. The felled timber is lifted by the locals to be used as firewood.

The locals complained that Wapda and Pesco staff used to cut tress every year in the name of securing the transmission line.

When contacted, the irrigation department officials only said encroachments on the government land were not allowed.

Wapda and Pesco officials said they cut those trees which prevented smooth supply of electricity.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2017